


Dinner for Four

by thedemonkingawakes



Category: Bloodlines Series - Richelle Mead, Vampire Academy Series - Richelle Mead
Genre: F/M, Oneshot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-02
Updated: 2014-07-02
Packaged: 2018-02-07 04:27:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1885143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thedemonkingawakes/pseuds/thedemonkingawakes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sydney and Adrian go on double date of sorts with Dimitri and Rose. The dinner is extremely awkward, but a few issues are resolved, not without their fair share of shouting.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dinner for Four

A loud, insistent pounding on Sydney’s door woke her. She groaned and rolled over, hoping whoever it was would go away if she ignored them. The noise stopped and for a moment, Sydney though whoever it was had gone away. Then, she heard the sound of the door opening. Turning, she found herself face to face with Adrian Ivashkov.

“Adrian, why are you in my room?” Sydney asked.

“I’m delivering an invitation. Dimitri invited us all to dinner.”

“Who’s us?”

“You, me, Rose, Dimitri, Lissa, Christian, Sonya, Mikhail. Although Lissa and Christian are busy, so they’re not coming.”

“When is it?” Sydney asked, grabbing her bathrobe from where it hung on the bed frame and pulling it on.

“In like twenty minutes.”

Sydney sighed. So much for going back to sleep. “I’ll meet you in the lobby in ten minutes.”

~*~*~

Sydney schooled her face into a neutral expression and pushed Adrian's hand off her leg as Rose and Dimitri came into sight.

"Sorry we're late. We were making a few last minute arrangements with Lissa’s other guardians." Rose said as she and Dimitri slid into the booth across from Sydney and Adrian.

“Sonya and Mikhail won’t be joining us. She wanted to keep an eye on Neil to make sure there weren’t any adverse effects to the tattoo.”

"It's fine. I understand and I'm sure Lord Ivashkov does too." Sydney replied distractedly. Under the table, she tried to push Adrian's hand off her leg again.

“Lord Ivashkov? Seriously Sage, just call me Adrian.” Adrian said, grinning. He turned his attention to Rose and Dimitri. "Sage was fine. She had my excellent company to entertain her.”

The waitress came over and they all ordered their meals. After she left, an awkward silence permeated the air around the table. Their food was delivered ten minutes later without another word having been uttered between the group.

Fishing around for a safe topic, Sydney said, “What do you like so much about Russia Dimitri? I spent almost a year there and beautiful isn’t how I would describe it. But when I was with Rose there, she told me how much you loved it."

For a moment Sydney thought she had made a big mistake as Dimitri's face darkened and his muscles tensed. Then he took a deep breath and relaxed as Rose's hand slipped into his.

"Its home.” Dimitri said simply. “The buildings, with all their domes and colorful designs, are as familiar to me as any move I learned at the Academy.”

“It’s so bleak though.”

“It’s simple. A land of blacks and whites, left over from a simpler time. I would have thought you would be able to appreciate that.”

“I missed the color. And the warmth.” Sydney paused for a moment, hesitant about revealing part of herself to a dhampir. Adrian slipped his hand into hers under the table and gave it a gentle squeeze. “I try to see actions in black and white because it makes my job simpler. While I was stationed in Russia, the lack of color made it easier to do that. It also made it harder to distance myself from what I saw and did as part of my job.”

“I can understand that. It was a little of the same for me, stuck in Montana, after I killed my first Strigoi.”

The table fell silent at the mention of the Strigoi. Eventually Rose spoke, breaking the tense atmosphere. "How's undercover life suiting you?"

"Fine. It's interesting to be back in high school."

"Still think all dhampir and Moroi are devil's offspring?" Rose asked somewhat jokingly.

Sydney's face immediately became more closed off, her expression colder. "Rose, I think I've made it perfectly clear what my opinion on Moroi and dhampirs is. I'm willing to accept that there are exceptions to the rule, but I can't believe that everything I learned was wrong."

"Geez Sage, she was joking."

"I'm tired of it. The jokes, the snide comments, the way everyone here acts like I'm inferior - either because I'm a human or because I'm an alchemist." Sydney said, her voice rising slightly despite  
her best efforts to keep it quiet.

The combination of the long night and the tension in the air had already made Rose's temper short and Sydney's comment ignited it.  “Get off your fucking high horse, Sydney. You act like you alchemists are  
so much better than dhampirs and Moroi.” She shot to her feet, practically shouting now. “I know people, both dhampir and Moroi, that are easily ten times the person any of your precious alchemists will ever be."

She pivoted on her heel and stalked off, her combat boots making an imposing click with every step. Dimitri stood and followed her, shooting a look back over his shoulder at Sydney that managed to be both apologetic and angry at the same time. Outside, Dimitri found Rose sitting on a secluded bench under a large tree. He took of his duster and draped it around Rose's shoulders before sitting down next to her. She leaned into him and sighed.

"I shouldn't have done that."

"Probably not." Dimitri agreed.

"I just… it makes me angry, knowing that the alchemists think we're monsters when so many dhampirs risk their lives every day to protect the Moroi."

"I know Roza, I know." Dimitri wrapped his arm around Rose's shoulder. They sat there for several minutes, enjoying the peace and quiet.

"Rose." Rose could hear Sydney calling for her.

"Guess I'd better go apologize." Rose said with a rueful smile. She stood and handed Dimitri his duster.

Stepping out from the cover of the trees, Rose caught sight of Sydney wandering around looking for her.

"I'm over here Sydney."

Sydney walked over to meet her, joined a moment later by Adrian.

"I wanted to apologize." Sydney began, but Rose cut her off.

"I'm the one who should apologize. I had no right to lose my temper with you."

"Thanks. And for what it's worth, most of you don't seem that bad. It's just hard to forget everything I've been taught."

Rose nodded. "That's understandable. But there will come a time when you have to choose between what you were taught and your instinct."

Dimitri joined them, his duster blowing in the wind. "If you two have worked everything out, the restaurant has an excellent apple pie. You should try some before you go home Sydney."

She nodded and the four of them walked back into the restaurant.

 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I started this a while ago, right after I finished the Fiery Heart. Hopefully no one seems to OOC, but if they do it's because it's been a while since I read the Bloodlines series.


End file.
